U.S. AfriCom’s commander Ward: no plans to move hqs to Africa

U.S. ARMY GEN. Kip Ward: neither U.S. Africa Command headquarters nor the headquarters of its Army, Marine Corps, Air Force or Navy components will be moved to the continent. (Defense Department)

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U.S. AfriCom’s commander Gen. William Ward says no plans to move hqs to Africa By John T. Bennett

U.S. ARMY GEN. Kip Ward said Sept. 29 that neither U.S. Africa Command headquarters nor the headquarters of its Army, Marine Corps, Air Force or Navy components will be moved to the continent. (Defense Department) The new command was formally established under the Bush administration, which opted to house the command’s headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, the home of U.S. European Command. That command was one of three U.S. military commands that had authority over Pentagon activities in Africa. U.S. officials are not planning to “send garrisons” of forces onto African soil, Ward said.

In addition to reiterating long-recited claims from Washington that it would not move the AfriCom headquarters – or those of its Army, Marine Corps, Air Force or Navy components – to Africa, Ward told an audience at the Atlantic Council in Washington that command officials have made progress explaining the organization’s aims.

He said U.S. officials have spent the past year explaining the command is aimed at helping with tasks like training African nations and “building their capacity” to maintain stability. He thinks African officials have made progress to that end.

Part of the reason AfriCom officials have had to spend over a year explaining Washington’s aims for the command, Ward said, is because initial “communications packets” highlighted things other than what the organization would focus on. September 30, 2009, Defense News